Customs and Excise (Surtax Tariff) (Amendment) Notice, 2025 (No. 6)
A 30% surtax now applies to imported milk, yoghurt, cane sugar, beer, white cement, ceramic tiles, steel bars, sections and rolled products — protecting local producers from 15 May 2025.
This notice restructures the Customs and Excise (Surtax Tariff) Notice, 2012. Yoghurt (0403.20.00) is deleted from the existing schedule, which becomes the First Schedule, and a new Second Schedule is inserted listing goods on which surtax of thirty per centum ad valorem is charged on importation.
The Second Schedule covers milk of a fat content not exceeding 1 per cent and between 1 and 6 per cent (0401.10.00 and 0401.20.00), yoghurt (0403.20.00), cane sugar of subheading note 2 and other cane sugar and other sugars (1701.13.00, 1701.14.00 and 1701.99.00), other beer of malt (2203.0019), white cement whether or not artificially coloured and other cement (2523.21.00 and 2523.29.00), ceramic tiles across the three water-absorption bands (6907.21.00, 6907.22.00 and 6907.23.00), other flat-rolled steel (7211.19.00), deformed and free-cutting steel bars and other bars (7214.20.00, 7214.30.00 and 7214.99.00), and small U, I, H, L and T sections (7216.10.00, 7216.21.00 and 7216.22.00).
The surtax is charged on top of ordinary customs duty and VAT, so the landed cost of these goods rises sharply. The list reads as a protection measure for local dairy, sugar, brewing, cement, tile and steel producers, and it is the importers, builders, hardware retailers and food wholesalers buying these lines who carry the cost.
The notice was published in an Extraordinary Gazette dated 15 May 2025 and states no separate commencement date.
What changed
- A 30% ad valorem surtax applies to a new Second Schedule of imported goods
- Milk of up to 6% fat content, yoghurt, cane sugar and other sugars are covered
- Other beer of malt, white and other cement, and ceramic tiles in all three absorption bands are covered
- Flat-rolled steel, deformed and free-cutting steel bars, and small U, I, H, L and T sections are covered
- Yoghurt is moved out of the original schedule, which becomes the First Schedule
Who this affects
- Importers of milk, yoghurt, sugar and beer
- Building material importers and hardware retailers buying cement, tiles and steel
- Construction contractors pricing imported steel and tiles
- Local dairy, sugar, cement, tile and steel producers
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.